Alessandro Latif posted 10th and ninth placings in his Phoenix Racing Audi on his Blancpain Sprint Series debut in France over Easter (20-21 Apr).

London-born Latif and co-driver Marc Basseng, of Germany, lie 10th in the standings after the opening two one-hour races at Nogaro in southwest France.

“The Nogaro races were a huge learning curve for me,” confirmed Alessandro. “Last weekend marked my first GT3 sprint races and the first time I’d raced one of those cars on a wet, slippery track, so there was a lot of pressure.

“The Phoenix Racing team helped me massively throughout the event, both on and off the track, and I must thank them for all of their support and hard work – plus their incredibly fast pit stop times.”

Light rain and a damp track made for tricky conditions for the opening stages of Sunday’s Qualifying Race which Basseng started on wet tyres. Marc handed over to Latif placed 11th – a position the 18-year-old Briton maintained to the chequered flag before picking up one place due the disqualification of another car.

Alessandro remarked: “Sunday’s race was the first time I’d ever driven a GT3 sportscar in wet conditions. It was a bit tricky to begin with but eventually I got used to the Audi – it was a good learning experience. Phoenix Racing achieved the race’s fastest pit stop of the field so the team worked really well.”

Latif began from 11th on the grid for Easter Monday’s one-hour Main Race staged in sunny and dry conditions, moved up two places at the start but dropped to 17th on the third lap after briefly leaving the track.

But a strong recovery drive by Latif and then from team-mate Basseng, brought their Phoenix Audi up to an impressive ninth place at the chequered flag.

Alessandro continued: “I started race two from 11th on the grid and made up three places on the first lap but pushed a little too hard on the third lap, dropped a wheel on to the grass, and by the time I’d recovered had fallen to the back of the pack.

“I put my error to the back of my mind and focused on setting consistent lap times and making up time so that Marc and I could claw back up the field. We gained some places during the pit-stop phase thanks to another amazing job from the Phoenix crew.

“Marc drove a really good clean, fast stint. He pushed hard and we were back up to ninth at the chequered flag. I drove hard in the second race and my mistake was costly but we fought back well.”